A public rift happened between tech moguls Elon Musk and Sam Altman over US President Donald Trump ‘s ambitious $500 billion Stargate AI project, a joint venture involving OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle. The disagreement centres around claims made by Musk that the funds promised for the project might not be available as expected.
The clash is a rare instance between Musk, the world’s richest man, and President Donald Trump following the former played a significant role in Trump’s new administration after investing $270 million in his election campaign. On his first day in office, President Trump on Tuesday unveiled the Stargate initiative, a groundbreaking investment to develop AI infrastructure in the US, led by SoftBank and OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT.
Trump touted the venture, calling it a “resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential.” The project is expected to invest at least $500 billion in AI infrastructure, with an initial private investment of $100 billion, potentially growing five times that amount. Stargate has already begun constructing data centres and generating electricity to support the fast-evolving AI technology.
However, Musk, an advisor involved in a government cost-cutting initiative (DOGE), raised concerns about the project’s financial backing. He publicly criticised the venture, claiming that SoftBank’s secured funds fall significantly short. “They don’t actually have the money. SoftBank has well under USD 10B secured. I have that on good authority,” the Tesla CEO said in a post on X.
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